Heartless || •OG• ✔️

Chapter 53 - Charlotte

The ladder before them was rusted and crooked.

"We'll have to move fast. I'll go first and check the environment, from there, I'll say what we have to do," Charlotte said. She was thankful they were getting away from the smells. They surrounded her mind until she got dizzy, pressing her hand against the crack on the wall to steady herself.

Jimin was silent and keeping his glare on Jericho. The idea that after this, Charlotte would lose both Jimin and Jericho, hadn't processed yet. What was there to process? Who else had to die before they found peace? That was the irony of it all, wasn't it? No matter how morally right or wrong her mission was, Charlotte was still wrong her whole life. Forced or not, she was a monster.

That acceptance was a hard pill to swallow. She downed it nonetheless. It was necessary if she were to succeed today. In the course of a few hours, their lives would change entirely. They'd either live the rest of their lives in peace, or die trying to get there. She preferred the former, but she knew she didn't deserve it.

Charlotte hoisted herself up and climbed, peeking out the cover and seeing no one was in sight. The sun was setting, a shadow falling over the clearing she was in. The castle had its own front yard with over a hundred feet to its name. Each blade of grass looked like it was taken care of and had its own gardener. Charlotte would admire it if it didn't belong to Madam.

At the silence she received from the environment, she left the sewer and motioned to the others to come up. The castle wasn't far, but she didn't like how they were out in the open. Charlotte was on a concrete path that was like its own street, the grass on either side of it rising over the edges and tickling the pale material her feet bounced on.

She helped Jericho up, him stopping in front of her. It was just closeness, it wasn't meant to be intimate. Yet it felt intimate in a way she knew was wrong. Regardless, she brushed it off and breathed in the air that smelled of nature. The air hit her face with a wave of freshness.

The others piled up with them, Charlotte staring at the castle. The entrance was guarded and wasn't far from their position. Jimin was holding up the rear, but Charlotte forced him to get in the middle where they could monitor him better. To her amazement, he didn't complain about that. He didn't make a peep.

"Jimin," she said, his eyes turning to her.

"What?"

His tone made her flinch, and she lost the strength to go through with her words. He was only doing this so he could get Jericho to himself without the fear of getting shot by Charlotte or Kayden, who was limping and needed to hold onto Ivan. They supported each other, Kayden grunting more with each step. Jimin didn't bother apologizing for shooting him.

"Don't go too far, let's stay together. No splitting up unless absolutely necessary," she said instead.

Jimin didn't reply, and they went down the path. There were guards not far, and they had to move at a fast pace so they could hide behind the trees that had bare branches falling off of the rest of the structure. Charlotte crouched and saw the front was guarded by a group of 4, but there were snipers waiting on the second floor. She saw the barrels of their weapons peeking out the windows.

They agreed to try the back instead, circling around and pressing their backs against the stone wall. A patrol of 4 came by, Charlotte giving a nod to Jericho and Kayden, squeezing Ivan's shoulder so he knew. He figured it out, and right as the guards walked by, they took them out.

Charlotte grabbed the back of the closest one, covering his mouth with her hand and choking him. They sunk to the ground, the others doing the same. It took a few moments, but the guards stopped struggling and succumbed to their fate. They searched them and found knives and pistols, taking all of them.

Jimin took an extra knife much to Charlotte's disapproval, shoving it in his bag. After, they continued. Another patrol would come eventually, and they'd have to run. The next step would be-

Shit.

Charlotte glanced up and saw cameras, realizing that the odds were, they already were found. Jericho bumped into her since she halted, and she pointed. They all gained knowledge of the cameras and cursed to themselves.

"Does this mean we're fucked?" Ivan asked, wondering why the group stopped.

"I don't want to do this anymore," Ariel said, her breathing quickening. Jimin knelt and held her shoulders, Charlotte keeping watch. They didn't have time for a panic attack, but she was just a kid, and if Charlotte tried to interfere, she was sure Jimin would get aggressive.

"Do what, honey?" he asked, and she trembled in his arms.

"Any of it. I don't want to be here. I want my mom."

"I'm so sorry, Ari. If there was a way I could take us on a private jet and fly us somewhere safe, I'd take it. But for now, you're safe with me, okay?" She agreed, averting her eyes to hide her soaked face. Jimin tilted her head back to face him, and he wiped her tears. "You don't have to hide your tears, they don't make you weak. And neither does fear."

"They don't?" she asked, Jimin shaking his head.

"They don't define you, I promise."

Finally, Ariel calmed herself enough to nod and wipe the remainder of her tears away. Jimin stood and held her hand, Charlotte moving on so they could get back on track. Ariel was a walking reminder of why Charlotte was doing this. To protect the children of their world.

Right as they reached the back door, they got shot at. An alarm rang out, the beep hitting the skies and circulating around their minds. Charlotte yelped and ducked behind the walls, returning fire to the guards by the elegant double doors. They were wooden, bullets breaking through them as they exchanged fire.

"We're getting boxed in, we have incoming! Behind us!" Kayden said. Ariel was about to hold up her pistol, but Jimin tilted it back down, firing away at the guards. Charlotte and Jericho managed to defeat the ones in front of them, but more were on the way, and that was without counting the ones behind them.

"What do we do? We're gonna get flanked," Ivan said.

"Kayden, Ivan, and me will stay out here and take on the ones out here. Jimin, Charlotte, and Ariel, go inside and take out any you see in there. Let's flank them before they can flank us," Jericho said.

"Splitting up? Has no one seen a fucking horror movie?" Jimin asked in a shout, firing at the ones running at them.

"No time!" Jericho replied, making them go toward the back door.

"Jericho, come on! I'm not leaving you!" Charlotte said, but Jericho made her go with Jimin.

"It's okay," he said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. "I'll come back to you, I promise. Char, I think I'm in love with you." He chuckled, tearing up. "I thought you should know. Just in case. Now go."

At that, he turned and went back to fighting with Ivan and Kayden. Ariel grabbed Charlotte and pulled her inside the castle. The walls stretched out, marble pillars awaiting her as she saw flags and portraits hung on the wall. The carpet below her was a deep scarlet shade, trapping her feet.

"Come on, this way," Jimin said. Right as he said it, two guards came around the corner. Charlotte got them both, and they took their pistols. Charlotte put them inside Jimin's bag, spotting the Dumbo plush inside it. There was no time to dwell on that.

They went straight and turned down the first hall. Cameras were everywhere, meaning they were caught and likely to get attacked at any moment. Every few steps, Charlotte took a deep breath and held it in an attempt to calm her rapid heart. It didn't work.

Jimin sensed it and took her hand, bringing them inside the room to their left. It was gigantic, like a lobby of sorts. It had pillars that could work as cover, a bar with no bartender in the corner, and a door directly across from them. Through the window the door had, Charlotte saw a garden. There was another door on the left, and if she had to guess, it led to the next hall. Unlike the path in front of them, the left side didn't have a window for her to peer through.

"Let's go out and around to the right, look through the doors and windows and see if we can find Madam's office," Jimin said.

Charlotte held his arm, and he turned back to look at her. She couldn't hold back anymore, not when it was possible they could die in a blink. "I love you," she said, and he froze at that. "Even if you hate me, I always will. I know we're hardly in the situation for it, but I want you to know how sorry I am. He told me he would tell you, that's the only reason why I didn't say anything. When I told you you're the most important person to me, I meant it."

"No, no," he said, stepping closer. "I don't hate you, I could never hate you. There's not a day in my life where I've hated you, even when I said you were dead to me. You were right. I didn't mean it. The truth is, I love you too." She went to take his hand, but he backed away. "But... we're not there yet."

Although her heart cracked, she gave him a nod and the best smile she could muster. "Okay."

They kept their pistols by their side and stepped deeper inside the room that was made of marble, accents of gold glimmering around the ceiling that was dozens of feet above their heads. In a way, it seemed like a ballroom. The floors were smooth and solid with designs matching the pillars, the bar the darkest part of the room with the liquor lined up on the shelves.

Charlotte kept her eyes on the door, but they never made it there. The next step she took had her body quaking, footsteps and shouts coming from outside. Shit. They were found, and what was even worse was that the door behind them snapped open, Jimin firing his pistol at the ones who came through. He shouted for Charlotte to run, him taking Ariel's hand so he could protect her. She held her breath again, sprinting.

That was when her life changed forever.

~~~
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